


Ninjago - Hogwarts AU

by Nation_Ustria



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Android Zane, Bonding, Dark Wizard Lord Garmadon, Friendship, Gen, Good Big Brother Kai, Gryffindor Cole, Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, Hufflepuff Zane, Leader Cole, Magic, Professor Wu, Ravenclaw Jay, Slytherin Kai, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nation_Ustria/pseuds/Nation_Ustria
Summary: Kai Ajsmith, Zane Julien, Cole Brookstone and Jay Walker are all first years at Hogwarts, each strangers to each other and sorted into separate houses. However, when they get assigned to share a dorm as part of an experiment to strengthen bonds between houses, they learn first hand that the traditional divides are a bit stupid. Add a few years of schooling, a new Dark Lord and a new boy of prophecy, and these four are going to have to depend on each other to save their world.
Relationships: Cole & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Sensei Wu & The Ninja, There’s no romantic ships unless Jaya happens later
Comments: 51
Kudos: 40





	1. Kai

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so first off, while there is going to be an eventual plot line thing with Lord Garmadon and Lloyd that’ll mirror the canon plot, that’s not gonna happen until their third/fourth year, so most of this is just going to be a Hogwarts-themed slice of life type thing (read: light angst and lots of fluff). It’ll also be switching between the POVs of the ninja (later Lloyd as well). It’s also probably not going to be the most amazing writing in the world as I’m not intricately planning this out, but I’ll try to keep it neat.  
> I’m basing a fair amount of the “technical” stuff on headcanons that I’ve seen and the rest of it is just trying to make a fusion work.  
> Enjoy!

Kai had thought that things were going well. The train ride had been okay, even if he’d been pretty sure that the random kids in his car had only tolerated him because he was entertaining. The boat ride across the lake would’ve been awesome if it hadn’t been, well, on the lake. He only got a glimpse of the castle when one of the other kids in the boat almost tipped the whole thing over like an _idiot_. Still, Kai hadn’t fallen in, and he was barely even wet when he scrambled out onto the shore, which was a plus in his book. Making their way through the castle had been really cool too.

Then he’d been sorted into Slytherin.

Now he was sitting at the table on the wrong side of the hall, staring blankly at a golden goblet as the whirlwind of thoughts in his head blocked out the rest of the sorting.

An elbow to his ribs jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the older Slytherin he’d sat down next to smiling brightly.

“Hey, relax,” the older student said cheerfully. She was probably only a few years ahead of him, light hair slung in a braid over her shoulder. “I know our house has a reputation, but most of it is decades-old nonsense. Slytherin is _really_ cool.”

“It’s not that,” Kai protested. Which wasn’t a lie. Wasn’t a _full_ lie, anyway. After all, the reputation was only _part_ of the problem.

Another student a bit farther down the table leaned towards her. “It’s a bit more than that, Nation, weren’t you listening? He’s an Ajsmith.”

“I’m assuming Ajsmith is a name I’m supposed to know?” The first student—Nation—replied, butchering the pronunciation of Kai’s family name. Kai glared at her.

The second student rolled his eyes, which was barely visible underneath his mop of dark hair. “It’s pronounced ‘azsh-smith’. The Ajsmiths have been Griffyndors since Hogwarts was founded.”

Kai scowled. As if he _needed_ another reminder.

Thankfully, both of the older students fell silent as the Headmistress—Professor McGonagall—stood.

“Now that the sorting has been concluded, I have a few announcements to make. The first is to welcome Master Wu to Hogwarts. He will be teaching classes on magic as it is performed in Asia, as part of our new curriculum. While he is a Professor, he has been asked to be addressed as Sensei, as he would be in his homeland.”

There was a smattering of applause as an old man near the end of the teacher’s table nodded. He was wearing a frankly ridiculous hat—wide, straw, and pointy at the top—and what looked like white robes, and he had the longest beard Kai had ever seen in his life.

Nation twisted around. Kai turned to see that one of the students on the table behind them was leaning out into the aisle. Nation leaned back to get closer, almost falling off the bench as she listened to whatever the Ravenclaw was saying.

“Most of the rest of the announcements are as usual,” Professor McGonagall continued. “First off, a reminder that entering the forest at the edge of the grounds is not only dangerous but strictly forbidden . . .” 

“ _Guys_ ,” Nation hissed. Kai turned to look at her, but her attention was farther down the table. Right, like anybody would be paying attention to him.

“What is it?” The other student from before hissed back.

“Wu is _Lord Garmadon’s brother_.”

That sent a ripple of murmurs down the table, which wasn’t a surprise. Who in their right mind would trust the brother of the most infamous—and destructive—dark wizard since _Voldemort himself_?

The whispering suddenly quieted. McGonagall had pursed her lips, her eyes flicking from student to student sternly. Once the room was as quiet as it would get, McGonagall continued. “As for the final announcement: this year the school is instating a new program. As it is experimental, only a few select students will participate, while the majority of you will not be affected.”

“Well, this is interesting,” Nation said under her breath. 

“I wonder what it is?” her friend added.

“We’re about to find out, idiot.”

“This new program is meant to help lessen the divisions between houses. Four first year students—one from each house—have been selected to share a specialized dorm through the year.”

That started a new wave of murmuring, but this time people weren’t trying to keep their voices down so it turned into a dull roar. 

McGonagall paused for only a moment before continuing, her stern voice cutting over the hubbub. “These students will attend classes with those of their year in their houses, as normal, and while they will have the usual access to their houses’ common rooms, most of their studying will be done in their own common area. They will still be under the ultimate jurisdiction of their correlating Heads of Houses, but Sensei Wu has volunteered to take primary responsibility for overseeing that their education progresses on schedule.” McGonagall paused to let the volume of noise lower some. 

Kai looked over the different first-years he could see from where he sat, wondering which ones were going to be the unlucky four selected. He honestly didn’t care, as long as he wasn’t one of them.

“The names of the first years selected to participate in this experiment will be announced at the end of the feast. But as for now, dig in.”

Food appeared on all of the platters, just like Kai had always heard about. It smelled _amazing_ , so he didn’t hesitate to follow the headmistress’s instructions.

*****

The platters were nearly bare, the last of the cakes and candies and other sweets that made up dessert slowly being diminished by the few students that were still hungry. Kai himself was nibbling on a sweet roll that he’d snatched during a mini food fight that had happened with some of the older students next to him, wishing that his stomach was at least three times as big as it actually was. He was going to _explode_.

Once again the room went quiet, and Kai turned his attention back to the podium, expecting to see the headmistress standing again—but it wasn’t the headmistress, it was _Wu_.

The old man waited for the room to fall to silence before speaking. “In a moment I will read off the names of those students selected for this year’s experiment, but I’d like to say a few words first.” He spoke evenly and clearly, with a strength Kai hadn’t expected. Now that he was standing Kai could see that his robes were weird—not only were they white, but they were cut more like a loose jacket and pants than a traditional robe. “I’m sure that most of you have been informed by now that I am Lord Garmadon’s brother. This is a true fact, but I assure you, my brother and I could not be more different in goals. He wishes to conquer and destroy; I wish to nurture and create. In fact, part of why I am here is so that I can aid your Ministry of Magic in putting an end to my brother’s reign of terror.” His speech seemingly finished, he gazed out over the crowd.

After just long enough that the silence was getting uncomfortable, Wu cleared his throat. “Now, for the names of the students who will be participating in this experiment. These students have been carefully selected, and as such, there will be no changes or remediations.” Wu unrolled a small scroll that Kai hadn’t noticed he was holding. “Gryffindor: Cole Brookstone,” Wu announced. A few people applauded. “Ravenclaw: Jay Walker. Hufflepuff: Zane Julien. Slytherin: Kai Ajsmith.”

Kai froze. He’d heard wrong, right? He _had_ to have heard wrong. But Nation and the others around him were looking at him with something that seemed to be in between interest and pity.

Kai shrunk down in his seat. As if his school year wasn’t already going to be hard _enough_.


	2. Zane

Zane tried his best not to be anxious as Professor Sprout led him to his new dorm. Unfortunately, he wasn’t succeeding much. His father had informed him of the intense rivalries between houses—it was the one aspect of Hogwarts that Zane hadn’t been anticipating with any form of pleasure. Sorting young students into different groups and pitting them against each other was senseless—and everything Zane had learned about the last Wizarding War only further proved that dividing people was a mistake.

The one benefit he saw from the sorting was that he was placed among those who had similar qualities to him. His analysis had concluded that he might even be able to establish a friendship, but that conclusion had been the result of one other large factor: the fact that he would be continuously in the presence of those like-minded peers, from classes to meals to free time to resting periods. 

Now, though . . . 

Zane’s grip on the strap of his book bag tightened. Professor Sprout paused, waiting for a staircase to make its way around to the landing they were standing on. Normally, Zane would have been fascinated by the magical mechanics of it, but now he was measuring his breaths, trying to keep himself from burning out.

“Are you alright, dearie?” Professor Sprout asked. 

“I’m fine, thank you.” Inwardly, Zane flinched. He sounded flat—robotic.

Professor Sprout _hmph_ ed softly, then Zane was being enveloped in a hug. He froze in surprise before letting himself relax into the embrace.

“You’re going to do fine, dearie,” Professor Sprout said softly. “Don’t you fret.”

Zane sighed. The Professor was one of five people in the world who knew what he was, which was three more people than he was used to knowing. If she said that he’d be alright, it had to count for something. 

He added it as an additional variable to his calculations.

The staircase aligned with a _thud_ and Professor Sprout gently pulled away.

Minutes later, Zane was making his way up the twisting staircase of one of the smaller towers. He heard his fellow dorm mates before he saw them.

“—we could break our necks and die!” The voice was fast and high, and as Zane made his way up the last few steps he saw the boy it belonged to—reddish-brown, messy hair and hands waving every which way. There was a Ravenclaw pin loosely attached to his robes, slanted at an angle and almost falling off—a stark contrast to Zane’s own Hufflepuff one, which was perfectly positioned and attached. 

“Then don’t fall down the hole,” another boy said dryly. He had had longer, dark hair and was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, looking somewhere between annoyed and bored. His Gryffindor pin hung straight but oddly low, as if he’d attached it without thinking.

The Ravenclaw boy sputtered. “I—I’m not _intending_ to, but what if I slip! Then—”

“I assure you, Mr. Walker, there are charms in place to prevent such an accident!” Professor Flitwick said, sounding slightly flustered. “Invisible guardrails, for one!”

Walker—Zane thought back to Wu reading off the names. Jay Walker. And the Gryffindor was Cole Brookstone.

Jay blinked. “Cool! How does that work? Are the charms attached to the castle or like to the staircase itself? Or to individual stones? Do they need to be renewed? How does—”

“Oh for goodness sake, shut _up_.” The third boy was leaning against the back of the doorless alcove, behind the others. There was no pin in sight, but Zane didn’t need it to tell him who the third boy was—Kai Ajsmith, the Slytherin. Which was odd, when Zane thought about it. He distinctly remembered Father informing him that the Ajsmith family was entirely composed of Gryffindors. 

There was a flash of green—Kai was fiddling with something, flipping it over repeatedly in his palm. His Slytherin pin. 

Jay had jumped at Kai’s words, and now he stood frozen, his eyes big.

“Dude, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Cole said, glaring at Kai.

Kai scowled at the ground.

“That’s _enough_.” 

As the others fell silent, Zane turned, startled. Sensei Wu was right behind him, even though Zane had detected no signs of his approach.

Sensei Wu stepped past him, and Professor Flitwick apparently took it as his cue to leave as he hurried back down the stairs.

“You four are going to be sharing living and study quarters for the next seven years,” Sensei Wu said sternly. “I understand that you are all very different; that is the point of this experiment. But fighting with each other is only going to make all of you miserable.”

“I’d say it’s a sign that this is a massive mistake,” Kai snapped back. “There’s a _reason_ the different houses don’t get along.”

Zane frowned. “The goal of this experiment is to attempt to resolve those reasons,” he pointed out.

“Do we have to call it an experiment?” Cole asked, cutting off Kai’s retort. “It makes us sound like lab rats.”

“What’s wrong with being a lab rat?” Jay asked, bewildered.

Kai sighed, sounding like he was in pain.

“Be as it may, the circumstances will not be changed,” Sensei Wu said. “I’d advise each of you to try to make the best of it.”

Everyone was quiet—at least until Jay started talking again.

“What are we doing up here?” he asked, gesturing to the small space they were standing in. There were no doors, just endless rock walls dotted with the occasional window down the stairs. “I thought we were going to our dorm, but there’s no door! Or maybe we teleport? Or maybe—”

“Allow me to demonstrate for you,” Sensei Wu said. Jay stepped out of the way as the Professor started examining the back wall. It only took a few moments to find what he was looking for—a stone bigger than the others in a sort of pentagon-shape. He placed his hand on it, and lit up, glowing gold. A doorway appeared, opening into a room that seemed to be brightly lit. 

“ _Woah_ ,” Jay breathed. Zane could understand the sentiment—he also hadn’t seen magic quite like that before.

Sensei Wu removed his hand, and the doorway remained for a few long moments before vanishing. “Besides the Headmistress and myself, you four are the only ones capable of opening this doorway—and the only ones who the spell will actually let enter. Simply place your hand like I did to activate the spell.” With that, he opened the doorway again and stepped through. Then the opening vanished.

“I wanna try!” Jay squealed. He darted forward, practically slapping his hand against the rock. It lit up blue and the doorway appeared. “So cool!” he exclaimed as he darted through.

The doorway closed again, leaving Zane, Kai and Cole on the landing.

“Uh, anyone want to go next?” Cole asked.

“I do not care which order I enter in,” Zane informed him.

Kai didn’t respond, still glaring at the floor.

Cole shrugged. “Guess I’ll go next, then.” 

The rock lit up red for him, as Zane had expected.

“Would you like to go next?” Zane offered to Kai.

Kai finally looked up, squinting at Zane. Immediately Zane attempted to determine if he’d done something wrong, but his analysis didn’t come up with anything.

Kai rolled his eyes. “Hufflepuffs,” he muttered under his breath, stepping to the door. He gingerly touched the rock, almost as if he was afraid of it, and it lit up green.

Zane followed, feeling an odd sense of pride—and relief—as the rock lit up yellow for him. 


	3. Cole

Cole gave a low whistle as he stepped into his new dorm. The area he was standing in currently seemed to be some sort of common area, a set of couches around a low table near a fireplace on one side and sets of mostly-empty bookshelves and four desks on the other. The far side of the circular room continued up some steps to a sort of large, round alcove, where four poster-beds lined the outside wall. There was luggage at the foot of each bed, and Cole spotted his trunk on the far left. 

The Ravenclaw boy was bouncing around the room like a pinball, spewing questions about everything towards an amused Profess—Sensei Wu, who stood in the center of the common area with his hands behind his back.

The other two boys came into the room as Cole plopped down on one of the couches. The Slytherin’s—at least Cole assumed he was the Slytherin, as the other houses were accounted for and the boy didn’t seem to have a pin of his own—mouth dropped open in surprise, his eyebrows raising. It was brighter in here then it’d been at the top of the stairwell, revealing that the Slytherin had the spikiest hair Cole had ever seen—and that was saying something.

The Hufflepuff’s reaction was less visible, his expression shifting from almost blank to almost appreciative. If Cole hadn’t been watching closely he might not have noticed a difference at all. The boy’s death-grip on the strap of his bag loosened, though, which probably meant he was pleased. Briefly Cole wondered why he even had a bag with him—the house-elves had brought up everyone’s luggage, and it wasn’t as if he’d needed anything for the welcome feast. That wasn’t the only thing that seemed off about the Hufflepuff, actually—he moved stiffly, and back at the top of the staircase he’d spoken weird, like he’d memorized a dictionary. He even looked a bit off, with the straightest hair Cole had ever seen, growing straight up with a flat top—not to mention it was really light, though the color in and of itself wasn’t that strange—and eyes that were such a bright blue that they were noticeable from across the room.

Cole mentally shrugged. People were different.

The Hufflepuff made a beeline to the bookshelves, tilting his head as he scanned the few books. The Slytherin was scowling at the Ravenclaw, though the chatterbox didn’t seem to notice. Cole frowned. What was the dude’s problem? Sure, being pulled out of their houses wasn’t ideal, but things could be a lot worse.

That’s when Cole noticed that the Slytherin _did_ have a pin, gripped so tightly in his hand that Cole could barely see it.

Oh. He hadn’t wanted to be a Slytherin, had he?

Cole glanced down at his own pin. He’d always assumed he’d be a Gryffindor, though being sorted into one of the other houses wouldn’t have bothered him much—it wasn’t like he’d had his heart set on a particular one. He’d picked up on the train that most first years did just that, though—especially those in old wizarding families. Cole couldn’t remember exactly what the Slytherin’s name was, but he recalled recognizing the surname. He probably belonged to one of them.

Prof—Sensei Wu cleared his throat, gently cutting off the Ravenclaw boy’s rambling. Everyone turned to look at the old man.

“It’s getting late,” Sensei Wu said. “Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. You’ll find your class schedules on your nightstands, and a Prefect from your respective houses will guide each of you through getting to where you need to go your first few days. But first, some basic information: Breakfast is from 6:30 to 8:30 in the Great Hall, and classes start at nine. Curfew is from nine in the evening to six in the morning. If any of you are caught outside of your dorm during this time, your respective house will lose points.”

“Points?” the Ravenclaw asked.

“The four houses compete throughout the year to amass the most points,” the Hufflepuff informed him. “They’re awarded or retracted by the Professors for achievements or infractions, respectively. The gem-filled hourglasses in the Great Hall display the amount of points each house has collected—Rubies for Gryffindor, Emeralds for Slytherin, Sapphires for Ravenclaw, and Diamonds for Hufflepuff.”

“Oh, so _that’s_ what those were!”

Cole tried not to smile at the kid’s abundant energy.

“Yes. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year wins the house cup, I believe,” Sensei Wu added. “But that’s enough for tonight. I’ll leave you boys be— _do_ try to get some rest.” With that, he left, using an identical stone to get out of the room.

Cole looked around at the other boys. They were doing the same—sizing each other up, making initial judgements. The Slytherin was still standing near the door. His scowl had lessened some, turning into a shielded gaze. Both the Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw seemed openly curious, standing near each other by the bookshelves. Cole, of course, was still on the couch, arguably farther away from the rest of them than they were with each other.

The silence was starting to awkward, so Cole decided to break it. “I’m assuming you all have names?” he asked easily. “I’m Cole Brookstone.”

“I’m Jay,” the Ravenclaw said, grinning.

“Jay _Walker_ ,” the Hufflepuff added. “And I’m Zane Julien.”

They all looked to the Slytherin, who scowled again. After a long moment, Zane volunteered, “He’s Kai Ajsmith.”

Cole blinked. Ajsmith—that was the Gryffindor family, wasn’t it? Which meant . . . ouch.

“How do you know our names?” Kai asked heatedly, glaring accusingly at Zane.

Zane didn’t flinch, just calmly looked back at him. His grip on his bag tightened again, though. “They read off all of our names in the Great Hall.”

“Well, nice to meet you all,” Cole said, standing. He dug his father’s pocket watch out of his robes, flipping the cover open to check the time. 10:24. “But it’s almost 10:30, and as we’re gonna have the next seven years to get to know each other, I’d like to get some sleep for tomorrow.”

“Is that a pocket watch?” Jay asked.

“What else would it be?” Kai asked sarcastically. “A broomstick?”

A hurt look flashed over Jay’s face. Cole was ready to jump to his defense, but Zane beat him to it.

“He was merely confirming that his initial observation was correct,” the blond said cooly, gazing evenly at Kai. “It’s a fairly typical thing to do, I believe.”

Kai blushed, but he still looked angry. “Whatever,” he growled, then he was stomping his way towards the beds. He climbed on the one that must’ve had his luggage at the foot of it, yanking the curtains shut. 

Cole quickly made his way to Jay, slinging his arm over his shoulders. The Ravenclaw was a few inches shorter than he was, and if Cole had to guess a fair number of months younger, too. 

“Don’t worry about him,” Cole said. “He’s just had a bad day.”

“But today’s been stressful for all of us,” Jay pointed out.

Zane moved up to stand next to them, his hands still on his bag. “Kai belongs to a wizarding family that has always been Gryffindors,” he offered. “Getting sorted into what he may feel is the wrong house is most likely a contributing factor to his,” he paused, as if searching for the right word. “Grouchiness.”

“Not to mention that Slytherin is Gryffindor’s sworn rival,” Cole added.

“Slytherin also possesses an unfortunate reputation, even if most of it is currently inaccurate.”

“What type of reputation?” Jay asked curiously, looking between Zane and Cole.

“Lord Voldemort and his followers were all Slytherins,” Zane said simply.

“Lord who now?”

Cole chuckled. “You’re a muggleborn, aren’t you?”

“If you mean that both of my parents are muggles and that I didn’t know any of this existed until a few weeks ago, then yes.”

“Voldemort was more or less the wizard Hitler,” Cole said. “Though the war lasted from the late sixties to the mid-nineties. His followers—they were called Death Eaters—were basically wizard Nazis.” Cole glanced at Zane to see if he understood the comparison, which he seemed to. Zane obviously wasn’t muggleborn, which meant that he was probably a half-blood like Cole was. Somehow, purebloods seemed to not know about the World Wars—or anything else muggle, for that matter—at all. 

Jay understood, of course, at least well enough. “So Slytherin is kinda like post-WWII Germany?”

That was actually a really good way to put it. “On a smaller scale, yeah.”

Zane nodded his agreement. 

“Anyway, just give the guy a few days. He’ll come around,” Cole said.

“I can hear you, you know!” Kai called from his bed.

“We didn’t assume you couldn’t,” Zane replied instantly.

There was silence for a few moments, then Kai asked, “What’s a Nazi?”

Cole barked out a laugh. Yup, definitely a pureblood.


	4. Jay

Jay rolled over for the nth time, seeing if a new position that would be more comfortable had appeared in the last twenty seconds. Unfortunately, one hadn’t, so he stared up at his bed’s canopy blankly. It wasn’t like he wasn’t tired—every muscle in his body was some degree of exhausted. It was just that his mind _wouldn’t shut off_. His thoughts kept bouncing from topic to topic, shooting to the next as soon as they reached a new one. He was used to it, of course, it was how his brain worked—but there were times like now when he wished that the case was different. Or at the very least, that it had an _off_ button. That would be nice. Maybe there was a spell for that? One that wasn’t straight up knocking him out, he knew there was one of those and apparently it didn’t feel very nice.

Jay rolled over again. 

There was a soft exclamation from Jay’s left—not from Cole, then, he was on Jay’s right, so it was either Zane or Kai. There was the sound of blankets being thrown back, then someone was pulling one of Jay’s curtains to the side.

It was Kai, in red pajamas and even messier hair than he’d had before. He was holding out a small, glass bottle. Jay squinted at it. It looked like some sort of pills.

“Take one of these,” Kai half-whispered. “It’ll knock you out, but it’ll be like you went to sleep naturally once you get up in the morning.”

Jay hesitantly took the bottle, popping out the cork and shaking a pill into his hand. It was bright red and round, but felt more like a candy in his fingers than the pills his parents had had him take. He looked back up at Kai, unsure.

Kai shrugged. “Me an’ my sister use ‘em all the time. And if you don’t get to sleep soon, I’m not gonna be able to either.”

Jay considered that for a moment, then popped the pill in his mouth, swallowing quickly. It left a sort of fruity aftertaste on his tongue, which was nice. 

He tried to hand the bottle back to Kai, but the Slytherin waved him off. “With how much goes through your head, you’re gonna be needing them more than I will.” With that, he made his way back to his bed.

Jay carefully set the bottle on his nightstand, farther back from the edge, next to his wand—which, of course, grabbed his attention. It was smooth and straight, with a simple handle that curved inwards slightly. The only decoration was a small carving that looked like lightning wrapping around the base, somehow jagged and elegant at the same time. 

Jay ran his fingers over it, then plopped down on his pillow, his mind still whirring. 

Seconds later, he was out.

*****

There was someone gently shaking his shoulder. Jay stirred, confused—Mom and Dad usually woke him up with some bizarro contraption.

“Good morning, Jay,” said an even voice.

Oh, right.

Jay shot upright, startling Zane, who pulled back with big eyes. Jay blinked at him blearily, then grinned. “What time is it?”

Zane recovered quickly. “It is seven o’clock exactly. I thought it the optimal time to wake up—an hour and a half remains of breakfast, two before classes start.”

Jay’s mind briefly observed that Zane kinda talked like a robot before jumping to analyze the time. It was maybe a little earlier than needed, but the castle was freaking _huge_ and Jay had always been an early-riser anyway. “Works for me,” he said. 

Zane nodded, then left Jay to get dressed. It was weird, wearing robes—it was like wearing a Halloween costume, almost. The rest of the uniform wasn’t that bad, except for the tie, which Jay left hanging around his neck. He didn’t know how to tie it, anyway.

Zane was sitting on one of the couches, reading a book—whether one he’d brought from home or had taken one from one of the shelves, Jay wasn’t sure. His perfectly-tied tie was yellow with black stripes, which seemed weird for a moment until Jay remembered that they’d all been wearing generic ones yesterday. Jay looked down at his own tie, finding that it was blue with silver stripes, and also noticed that a Ravenclaw crest had been added to his robes, right over his heart. His pin was gone, but when Jay looked back he could see it placed carefully on his nightstand. When he looked back at Zane he noticed that Zane had a Hufflepuff crest, too.

How had all of that happened?

He filed that question away among the ten dozen others he had.

Kai and Cole were nowhere in sight, but the curtains over their beds were still drawn, so Jay assumed that they were still asleep. 

“Did you sleep well?” Zane asked as Jay plopped down on the couch across from him. 

“Yep. Falling asleep was kinda hard—lots of stuff happened yesterday, y’know?” His mind jumped back to the events of yesterday, eventually landing on Kai giving him the pills last night. That had been . . . really nice of him, actually. Cole was probably right, the guy just needed a few days to adjust. Jay _himself_ probably needed a few days to adjust—he still felt like he’d walked into a fantasy novel. 

Zane nodded. After a moment he said, “You might want to gather your things.”

Jay stared at him blankly until Zane added, “Such as your textbooks?”

 _Oh_. Right, he was at a school. _His_ school. A _magic_ school. 

He scrambled back to his bed, opening his trunk—then darted to his nightstand to snatch his schedule.


	5. Kai

Kai was woken up by something soft slamming into his face. He cried out, jerking away and smacking at whatever it was until he painfully knocked his head against the headboard. 

A few moments after that, he finally registered that the weapon had been a pillow.

He growled, kicking himself out of his tangled blankets so he could glare at Cole properly. The Gryffindor was standing at the side of Kai’s bed, already dressed and a pillow in hand. And smirking.

Kai mentally debated if hexing him was worth getting detention on his first day.

“Sorry for the rough wake-up,” Cole said, sounding not at _all_ sorry, “but breakfast ends in half an hour and I’m assuming you want to eat before you go to class. Zane and Jay left forever ago.”

Was it really that late already?

Kai begrudgingly climbed out of bed, making his way to his trunk to grab the neatly-folded uniform on top. He could practically _feel_ Cole raise his eyebrows at his red pajamas, but he ignored him. Even if Kai wasn’t a Gryffindor, red was still his favorite color.

The house-elves had added his house crest to his robes already. Kai’s stomach twisted some at the sight of the green-backed silver snake, but somehow, the blatantly green (and silver-striped) tie was even worse.

Kai scowled. He was a Slytherin, and there was no changing that. He’d just have to get used to it.

He changed quickly, tying his tie just enough so that it’d stay on. Wearing the robes already felt natural—Mom and Dad had been insistent on him wearing them at every semi-formal _anything_ for years. It was as close to caring as they’d ever gotten.

To Kai’s surprise, Cole was waiting for him when he finished. The Gryffindor was leaning against the wall by the magic door, bookbag slung over one shoulder and _something_ Kai couldn’t identify over his head. A set of long strings connected to the object, snaking down into his bag.

Kai must have given Cole a funny look as he approached him, as the other boy pulled the thing off, tucking it into his bag as he grinned. 

“It plays music,” Cole explained. “Muggle tech.”

Kai frowned. “I thought muggle technology wasn’t allowed in the school—”

“—because magic and electronics don’t mix well, yeah, I know. It’s fairly simple, though, so I was given permission to keep it as long as I didn’t try anything.” Cole went through the door and Kai followed.

“I thought that muggle technology has gotten pretty complicated.” Kai half-asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, it has, but _this_ tech is almost forty years old. It’s the same walkman my dad used as a kid,” Cole answered as they started making their way down the stairs.

“You’re dad’s a muggle, then.”

Cole nodded. “My mom was a witch. She died when I was really little, though, so I grew up more in the muggle world than the wizarding one. Her family made sure I wasn’t completely ignorant, though.” He didn’t ask about Kai’s family, probably because he already knew. 

They fell silent, their footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Eventually they made it to the bottom, then got to try to find their way to the Great Hall—and ended up pointless bickering as they got hopelessly lost. Eventually they were rescued by one of the Hufflepuff Prefects, who guided them to their destination without a second thought.

There were barely five minutes left of breakfast when they got there. The tables were almost empty, only a few groups of students scattered here and there. 

Cole immediately went for the closest table, scooping up a clean plate and serving himself. Kai blinked at him, stupefied.

Eventually Cole noticed him staring. “What?”

“That’s not your table,” Kai pointed out. He was pretty sure it was the Hufflepuff table, actually.

Cole shrugged. “So? Food is food, and I don’t think anyone here cares.” He sat down, digging into his stack of pancakes.

After a few more moments, Kai decided he didn’t care either and joined him, snagging an omelet and some bacon. Just in time, too—the food on the platters vanished, breakfast officially over.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Cole cleaned his plate quickly, though, and proceeded to pull a piece of parchment out of his bag. 

“I have Charms first,” Cole said. “What do you have?”

Kai dug his schedule out of one of his pockets with one hand, still shoveling food in his mouth with the other. He glanced over it, and after he swallowed, answered, “Potions.”

“I think you might have that with Jay,” Cole said, leaning over to try to look at Kai’s schedule. Kai pulled the parchment away protectively and Cole rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to eat it or anything.”

It was then that Kai noticed that Cole wasn’t wearing his tie. He frowned, confused, then pointed his fork at where it should be. 

Cole glanced down, then seemed to get the gist. “I don’t like ties,” he answered simply, shrugging. “It’s in my bag if a teacher asks me to put it on.” He put his schedule back in his bag, then stood, pulling out the same pocket watch he’d had last night from in his robes. “We’ve got about fifteen minutes to get to class. Normally I wouldn’t care, but it is the first day.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kai asked, standing. He shoved his last piece of bacon in his mouth.

Cole grinned. “If the teachers think you’re a good student on day one, you can get away with a bit more later on.”

Kai raised an eyebrow. That was . . . actually pretty smart. “Sounds like a plan to me.”


	6. Zane

Zane switched his bag from one shoulder to the other as he made his way up the spiral staircase, rolling the one that was newly freed. While his bag wasn’t heavy enough to cause any pain, the varied textbooks—plus the books Zane had just borrowed from the library—certainly summed up to enough weight to cause some discomfort.

The clock tower distantly announced that it was six o’clock, not that Zane needed to count the tolls to know. According to the schedule he’d received, dinner had just started. 

Cole and Jay were already in the dorm, each occupying one of the couches as they talked with each other. Cole cut himself off when he saw Zane, however, and smiled.

“How did your first day go?” Cole asked.

Jay twisted, bouncing up on his knees so he could see Zane over the back of his couch. 

“It went well,” Zane replied, attempting to mirror his friendly tone. He’d grasped the basics of today’s subjects easily, and he’d already mentally plotted out the homework he’d been assigned. Almost as a bonus, he’d also gotten along with the other Hufflepuffs in his year rather well, even if today’s lessons hadn’t provided a large frequency of interaction opportunities. 

“Awesome. Mine was good too,” Cole said. “Jay’s not so happy, though.”

Jay threw up his hands. “How am I supposed to write a foot of lines on a historical event I’ve never heard of?”

“And I’ve already told you, look in the textbook,” Cole countered.

“But it’s a history book! They’re dryer than the Sahara on the summer solstice!”

Zane quietly chuckled at the comparison. “I can assist you, if you’d like,” he offered. “There’s a high probability that I already know of the event that you’ve been assigned.”

“Would you? That’d be great,” Jay said happily, then almost instantly switched to a new topic. “Also, did you know that Cole has a walkman? I thought you couldn’t bring tech to school but apparently it’s old enough that it’s okay.”

Zane noted that Cole indeed had a walkman. The attached headphones—also an older model—were resting around his neck, seemingly having replaced his tie.

“You know, I still don’t understand why we can’t bring cell phones and stuff,” Jay said, turning back to Cole.

Zane froze. 

Cole sighed. “Magic and electronics don’t mix well.”

“But what happens when you _do_ mix them?”

Out of all of the possible topics of conversation, why did it have to be _this_ one?

“Well, nothing at first, but after a while, the tech actually develops sentience and kinda comes to life.”

“Wait, _really?!_ That’s so cool!” Jay exclaimed.

Cole shrugged. “I guess so. It’s not really true sentience, though—they behave more like animals, depending on the device.” 

“You _guess_ so? It’s a new type of life!”

Cole snorted. “They’re enchanted machines, not beings. Even semi-sentient, it’s still all the magic’s doing. They’re not alive, Jay.”

 _Not alive_.

Distantly, Zane was aware that he’d stopped breathing.

“The ministry disassembles them, anyway,” Cole added. ”They’re illegal.”

“But that’s killing them!” Jay exclaimed.

“They don’t feel anything, Jay, and you can’t kill a machine anyways.”

Zane stumbled backwards, darting for the door without thinking. The startled shouts of his dormmates behind him only spurred him to run faster, and then he was through the door and down the stairs, zigzagging randomly through the castle’s hallways.

When he finally slowed, he had no idea where he was. His mind had gone into overdrive, failing to register or properly store the turns he had made.

Now the logistics were slowing, calculations reaching their conclusions, and Zane could feel the stinging behind his eyes.

He finally came to a stop, leaning against the wall as his chest heaved. The strap of his bag was digging into his shoulder again, but it didn’t hurt enough that Zane bothered to adjust it.

_They’re not alive, Jay. They don’t feel anything._

Zane squeezed his eyes shut, manually cancelling the memory recall. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop another from forming.

_They’re enchanted machines, not beings._

Zane slid down the wall, pulling his knees against his chest and burying his head in his arms.

They don’t know, Zane recited to himself. They didn’t mean anything by it.

_It’s all the magic’s doing._

Shut up.

_They don’t feel anything._

Shut _up_.

_They’re enchanted machines. They’re not alive._

Zane slammed his fist against the wall, desperate for any input to drown out the recalls. Something snapped in his wrist, and an instant later soft warning chimes were ringing through Zane’s mind, accompanied by a sharp burst of pain.

Zane winced. Well, at least his attempt was successful.

“Are you alright, young one?”

Zane started, looking up in surprise. “Sensei Wu?”

“Hello, Zane,” the Professor said softly. He was sitting cross-legged in front of Zane, barely a foot away, looking at him with calm, steady eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Zane asked softly. His voice sounded flat again.

_Not alive._

“Checking on you,” Sensei Wu replied. “I saw you rush off on my way to your dorm.”

Zane wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that.

After a long moment of silence, Sensei Wu said, “You’ve been crying.”

Had he? Zane lifted his uninjured hand to his face, wiping his fingers across his cheek. It was wet.

“What happened, young one?” Sensei Wu asked softly.

Zane took a moment to order his thoughts. “Nothing consequential,” he whispered.

“It has to have at least some significance if it made you cry,” Sensei Wu countered gently.

Zane shook his head. “They didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Perhaps not, but that didn’t stop them from hurting you.”

Zane didn’t respond, but Sensei Wu simply waited. Waited for him to say something, maybe to explain.

Eventually, Zane gave in. “They . . . Cole was informing Jay of how magic affects . . . electronics.”

“Ah. I see.” Sensei Wu paused, then continued in an even softer tone. “Their words must have hurt.”

Zane nodded.

“Unfortunately,” Sensei Wu added, “they won’t be able to understand _how_ they have hurt you in their ignorance.”

The implication of his words wasn’t difficult to decipher. Two options presented themselves. Either he could suffer in silence, or inform them of what he was and perhaps receive an opportunity for remediation.

“The choice is yours,” Sensei Wu informed him. “The Headmistress has given her authorization for them to know.”

Zane considered, running the variables.

_They’re enchanted machines, not beings._

Zane hugged his knees, flinching as he discovered that his injured wrist had locked.

_They’re not alive—you can’t kill a machine._

Wordlessly, Zane shook his head.

Sensei Wu nodded. “That is your right.”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes—four and a half, to be exact. 

“Are you going to be alright?” Sensei Wu asked.

Zane nodded. 

Sensei Wu sighed, then climbed to his feet. “Do you know your way back to your dorm?”

“No,” Zane admitted. He stood, adjusting his bag and wincing as wrist twinged with pain.

Sensei Wu’s gaze flicked to the wrist in question before he turned away, peering down the hallway. “I’d advise repairing that sooner rather than later.”

Zane swallowed dryly. Right.

Sensei Wu very pointedly remained facing away from him. He almost appeared to be standing guard, staring down the empty hallway.

Zane glanced around to confirm that they were alone, then dug his tool kit out of the bottom of his bag with his good hand. He sat down again, setting the kit next to him as he rolled up his sleeve, holding out the injured arm.

Zane hesitated. He’d never performed any work on himself in a setting that in any way resembled this one. Here he was so . . . exposed.

He shut down the inputs from his arm and the pain vanished, as did all other feelings from the limb. The soft warning chime continued, though, silently sounding in his mind.

Zane pressed down at specific points on his inner arm, simultaneously ordering the mechanical release. The panel that made up his inner forearm soundlessly swung open, exposing the mechanics inside. 

Slender, multi-colored wires snaked through his arm, contrasting against the silver of the metal that made up his frame and the panels attached to it. Thin metal rods—his mechanical skeleton—crisscrossed through the wires, joints and silent motors set in the correct places to provide optimal mobility. However, the most unusual part was what streaked up and down the dozens of wires—bright white sparks, flaring into life to dance through Zane’s arm before vanishing to provide space for new ones, just as they did along the wires throughout his entire body. They were a manifestation of Zane’s magic, which had been self-sustaining and even growing for eleven years last February.

Zane watched the sparks dance for a few moments before he refocused on his task. One of the primary rods—one of his “bones”, effectively enough—in the complicated structure that formed his wrist had snapped. It was slightly unusual for such a critical rod to break, but when Zane reviewed the angle at which he’d hit the wall, the breakage made sense. The rod had taken the brunt of the impact.

Zane selected the correct tool from his kit, activating his enhanced vision so he could better see the nearly-microscopic screws that attached the rod to his frame. He made quick work of replacing it, slipping the two halves of the broken rod in his bag.

Zane hesitated. The next step was to test that the rod was attached correctly—which meant that he’d have to restore the feeling in his arm. If he’d attached the rod correctly, all would be well, but on the 12.7% chance that he hadn’t—well, an incorrect attachment was quite painful. It was an issue that Father had tried to rectify for several months at one point in time, but nothing had produced any results. The rods weren’t hooked up to any of Zane’s electrical sensors. He felt them the same way he felt emotions—purely through his magic.

Zane braced himself, then switched the input back on. Instantly feeling returned, thankfully without any pain. Zane rotated his hand, ensuring that full mobility had returned before he closed the panel.

Zane tugged his robe sleeve back down and returned the kit to his bag. Sensei Wu turned, presumably recognizing that Zane had finished.

“Would you prefer me to guide you back to your dorm or to the Great Hall?” Sensei Wu asked.

Zane weighed his options. It took a few moments to make his decision, but as he evaluated what action he wished to take next he found that he was exhausted. “My dorm, please.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I’ll add more as I write it, and while I can’t promise how often that will be hopefully it will be fairly consistent.  
> Leave me a comment if you have any thoughts or questions :)


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